In your opinion, what is the most OVERrated knife currently available for purchase.. and also list the most UNDERrated knife currently available? Why?

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Bunker Hill Blades said:
so some of you guys are saying that the bugout is overrated, I love my bugout, when I’m doing something like parkour/freerunning etc... I stick it in my pocket and forgot about it (yes I wear gym shorts) and I feel it’s just a great little knife, so no I don’t think it’s overrated.
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I'm too old and fat for parkour, so I don't have to worry in that regard. :(😄
 
Bunker Hill Blades said:
so some of you guys are saying that the bugout is overrated, I love my bugout, when I’m doing something like parkour/freerunning etc... I stick it in my pocket and forgot about it (yes I wear gym shorts) and I feel it’s just a great little knife, so no I don’t think it’s overrated.
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It was the knife I carried every day for years when I had to wear business clothes every day. Basically a great EDC for light clothes.
 
Hashishiin said:
First off, wow, what an experience, glad you made it through, and that UC was around! Thanks for sharing, as real instances of what happens in the real world, what can fail in stress, are always helpful to learn from.

I have been trying to "stress test" myself by walking as I normally do with heavy leather jacket/jeans, then I start rapidly backing up, and simultaneously trying to wave something like a Matriarch or Espada XL and try to solidify my aim, control, flow, normally aiming to slash thigh area of a 6-foot man, turn, run. Even this small and paltry training with no resistance makes me realize how messed-up your senses can get in an emergency and what practice and fine motor skill one even needs to get a knife out and into the fight fast enough. I do hope I never know, though, and I hope my Matriarch will only ever get used on mushrooms.
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I carry a Sakit by a guy that goes by JB Knife and Tool on Instagram. I carry it center line upfront in the method espoused by South Narc of Shivworks. I have significant grappling experience, so this works for me. You should take some time and look into that stuff. You may be stirred to start Brazilian Jiu jitsu, assuming it’s not something you currently do.
 
Overrated: Bugout, Paramilitary 2, Endura, Delica, most Seki Spyderco
Underrated: Anerican Lawman, zt0640, mini presidio 2, ultimate hunter, manix 2
 
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While I'm sure there are countless examples of both overrated and underrated knives out there, I'm only throwing in the hat for my personal choice on an underrated knife.
My opinion is based on two major points...

*It's average real world pricing.

And...

*The overall quality it offers for that money.

The knife I put in as most underrated, is the Boker Arbolito 'El Gigante'.

It's sells in the $225 price range. It's blade is made of Bohler N690 stainless steel. It has a very well executed full flat grind, a nicely done swedge, and a neat high polished stone wash finish, (unlike any other stonewashed finish that I've ever encountered). And I usually don't care for stonewashed finishes, but I find this one to be gorgeous! It has a stainless steel guard, a tapered tang, and red lined stag handle scales. It also comes with a very nice traditional leather sheath.

The fit & finish on this Argentinian made knife is just downright awesome, especially for the amount of money one pays for the knife.
Although Boker has quite a few Boker brands, only the knives made at their German factory, and at their Argentinian factory, are actually genuine Boker made knives. Why? Because the Boker Arbolito factory in Argentina is an actual branch of the German Boker company. Anything made outside of their German and Agentinian facilities, are not Boker made products, but are products contracted by Boker to be made by other knife companies.

Again, I find it to be a lot of quality for the money. And yet, you don't often hear much about them. So, yes, my vote for most underrated, (at least based on what I actually own myself), is the Boker Arbolito 'El Gigante'...







This next picture shows the Boker 'El Gigante' and the Cold Steel 'San Mai III Trail Master' together to give an idea of the knife's size. They are roughly the same overall length...

 
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Why I think that some knives are overrated ,see pictures . But I have some fishing reels that cost over $ 1000 :eek:
Most likely everything is relative, nothing is overrated if you want to have it ?
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Paratrooper06 said:
That knife better be made out of Valyrian steel and dragon bones for $3,000. o_O
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A high price tag doesn’t necessarily translate into “overrated” or “poor value”

If I spend $750 on a CRK damascus Sebenza and sell it …I might lose $50

If I spend $191 on a Cold Steel AD10 from a dealer and sell it …I will probably lose more than $50

The price alone isn’t the main consideration. It’s value to the buyer ….

A knife from Ron Lake may cost more than your car. But it will always be worth more than your car.

That being said, most knives are certainly poor investments and that’s why the info here in the forums is truly valuable

Great thread
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
A high price tag doesn’t necessarily translate into “overrated” or “poor value”
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It does for me, understanding that this is a subjective exercise…. Not an objective one.
Ron Sabbagh said:
If I spend $750 on a CRK damascus Sebenza and sell it …I might lose $50

If I spend $191 on a Cold Steel AD10 from a dealer and sell it …I will probably lose more than $50

The price alone isn’t the main consideration. It’s value to the buyer ….
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A $3,000 knife is typically a serious and main consideration for most people. That’s two or three mortgage payments for the average American.
Ron Sabbagh said:
A knife from Ron Lake may cost more than your car. But it will always be worth more than your car.
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Nothing is certain in life. Even baseball cards and comic books fluctuate in value depending on demand. If people suddenly stop wanting Ron Lake knives, it won’t be.
Ron Sabbagh said:
That being said, most knives are certainly poor investments and that’s why the info here in the forums is truly valuable
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Knives aren’t investments any more than buying a car. If people want to “invest” in something, there’s always the stock market. If you’re buying knives as an “investment”, you likely aren’t using said knives. To me, a $3,000 knife isn’t a knife you use, unless you like a terrible ROI when you re-sell, or you just want to know what it feels like to use a $3,000 knife. With most knives there is no ROI… which is why I say knives aren’t an “investment”. In 10 years, no one will pay $3,000 for that Rockstead.

That being said, I’m not knocking anyone for buying a Rockstead fixed blade for $3,000. If someone wants to buy it? Buy it. But my opinion is my own and for me, the point of diminishing returns occurs long before the $3,000 mark.
 
^^^^^
I agree with what you say - just pointing out that there CAN be value in more expensive knives. And yes most people don’t have the budget to consider knives for “collecting/investing” but it can be done successfully.

BTW I’d rather have a Micky Mantle rookie card than any stock. It has never gone down in value
 
MrStabby7 said:
The most underrated knife is Southern Grinds Spider Monkey. It comes with S35vn, titanium liners, good handle to blade length ratio, thick blade stock, fits easy in the pocket and has a reasonable price. Excellent knife and it seems like no one ever talks about it...I have 3
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I agree with this. The Spider Monkey is easy to carry and use, and the carbon fiber is really nice stuff.

I don't know if the Delica is underrated... it gets a ton of love, and for good reason. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar one of the finest EDC's I've ever seen.
 
Thedude315 said:
I had a guy manage to kick backwards as I was cuffing him and dislocate my patella and rupture my medial retinaculum. I fell to the ground, smacked my head on the concrete, and he got on top of me and grabbed for my gun. I had to hold the gun in the holster with my right hand. I wasn't able to deploy the flipper blade on my ZT0560 with my left hand. Fortunately an off duty officer showed up a few moments before I blacked out. An OTF just needs a thumb push to deploy the blade and 4" of space. No sandwich grip needed or fine motor control.
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Good grief! I’m glad you are alright! Hope the knee is good to go!
 

RANDALL MADE​


Here's one that I have that I used to think to myself... "No way am I going to pay the prices that they want for these". Yes, from afar, I simply looked at 'Randall Made' knives as being overrated. Although they seemed like very nice knives, they didn't seem to be worth the amount of money they were asking, (and getting), for them.
Well, as a collector of all sorts of do-dads, including knives, I did want to have at least one in my collection. That said, I still felt that their prices were too high, period. But... I still wanted one!
The things that had me drawn to it?...
Well, for one, the story of the man that started the company. The fact that they were prized possessions of men that made it to the WW2 battles of the 1940's. The history of Randall knives being made specifically for astronauts that went into space. The limited hand production of his knives that entailed the forging of the blades. The handing down of the knife making tradition to his son, and then including his grandson. The continued limited yearly production, with only their having a 20 or so person shop that makes only 8,000 knives per year... And still doing things pretty much at an old school pace, and still having those forged steel blades. They still being hand made by few people using the "benchmade" method, in a world where cnc and mass production is quicker and highly precise. Heck, there's even a Randall knife song!

So... yup, they are pricey... But there's just that special something about them!

My purchase of a brand new specimen would entail either buying direct from Randall and waiting 5 or so years to receive it, or... Buying it from a dealer that may have some on hand.
I chose to order the dealer route, so I got that almost instant gratification. I would have probably been able to save $125 to $150 by going direct, but the extra cost to have it in my hands within 3 days... Well, it was worth it to me. I paid $595 plus shipping to get this knife. To be honest, it really is a lot of money for this knife. But, when I handle and admire it, I realize that my paying the admittance fee to own a small piece of this company's great history, was worth it to me.
It's not just a knife I purchased, I purchased tradition, an American Icon.

It's a Randall Made Model# 1 Fighter.
The 7" blade is made of forged 01 carbon steel, it having a factory sharpened cutting edge and top swedge. The guard is made of nickel silver and is soldered in place, (which would keep crud and liquid from entering inside of the handle). The buttcap is made of aluminum. It's handle is a black micarta with red, white, and blue spacers on each end. Even the leather sheath is truly a nice piece of work, and comes with a sharpening stone.

I'm glad I decided to pick it up a few months ago, since that same dealer now has the exact same model priced at $735! That means that it just recently jumped up in price by $140.
I guess inflation is striking at EVERYTHING! 😱

So, what was once seen by me as being an overrated brand of knives, is now something I see much differently 🇺🇸



Randal song...


The song's lyrics...

My father had a Randall knife
My mother gave it to him
When he went off to World War II
To save us all from ruin
Now if you've ever held a Randall knife
You'll know my father well
And if a better blade was ever made
It was probably forged in hell
My father was a good man
He was a lawyer by his trade
And only once did I ever see
Him misuse the blade
Well, it almost cut his thumb off
When he took it for a tool
The knife was made for darker things
You could not bend the rules
Well, he let me take it camping once
On a Boy Scout jamboree
And I broke a half an inch off
Trying to stick it in a tree
Well, I hid it from him for a while
But the knife and he were one
He put it in his bottom drawer
Without a hard word one
There it slept and there it stayed
For 20 some odd years
Sort of like Excalibur
Except waiting for a tear
My father died when I was 40
And I couldn't find a way to cry
Not because I didn't love him
Not because he didn't try
Well, I'd cried for every lesser thing
Whiskey, pain and beauty
But he deserved a better tear
And I was not quite ready
So we took his ashes out to sea
And poured 'em off the stern
And then threw the roses in the wake
Of everything we'd learned
And when we got back to the house
They asked me what I wanted
Not the law books, not the watch
I need the things he's haunted
My hand burned for the Randall knife
There in the bottom drawer
And I found a tear for my father's life
And all that it stood for
 
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Thedude315 said:
It was never something I thought to train for either. Im a very big muscular guy. It was very rare for people to want to fight with me.
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I’m the same exact way in terms of build (6’2 and 225lbs on a light day). Most people shy away from me due to how I look (except idiots at bars, always something to prove). I’m really mellow and calm and carry myself in the non threatening manner. I’ve never trained with a weapon. I always carry an old benchmade Bali song 800 but never think about it. I also carry a kimber micro 9 but for some reason in a very rare precarious situation my instincts would always take a “hand on” approach. I’ve always used my hands or strength before ever thinking about grabbing metal. I really hope that doesn’t work against me someday lol.
 
coolbreezy37 said:
I’m the same exact way in terms of build (6’2 and 225lbs on a light day). Most people shy away from me due to how I look (except idiots at bars, always something to prove). I’m really mellow and calm and carry myself in the non threatening manner. I’ve never trained with a weapon. I always carry an old benchmade Bali song 800 but never think about it. I also carry a kimber micro 9 but for some reason in a very rare precarious situation my instincts would always take a “hand on” approach. I’ve always used my hands or strength before ever thinking about grabbing metal. I really hope that doesn’t work against me someday lol.
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No, no... I think you're in the best position possible. US to UK, I cannot think of the place that would prefer you using metal. I find positions like yours enviable. I'm lucky to not be in a place to be victimized, but height, strength, ability, or a force multiplier, seem absolutely needed if I were to be wanting any chance. I look at the monsters of men out there today (Good guys, too, not even bad fellows, simply hulking dudes) and can't imagine a "fair fight". What does that even look like to someone like me? 😂
Anyways, I love the gentle giant-type.
 
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